Pneumatically-controlled blank-tripping mechanism for blank-feeding mechanisms.



M. E. PETERS G. H. FATH & A. F. MILLER. PNEUM'ATICALLY CONTROLLED BLANKTRIPPING MECHANISM FOR, BLANK FEEDING MECHANISMS.

APPLICATION men FEB. a, 1915.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

SSHEETs-SHEET 1 M. E. PETERS, e. H. FATH & A. r. MILLER. PNEUMATICALLYCONTROLLED BLANK TRiPPlNG MECHANISM FOR BLANK FEEDING MECHANISMS.

APPLICATION mzu FEB-8.\916. 1,244,537.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ll 44 l 7790 l .54 f0 1 'M. E. PETERS, G. H. FATH & A. F. MILLER.

PNEUMATICALLY CONTROLLED BLANKTRIPPING MECHANISM FOR BLANK FEEDINGMECHANISMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8. I916.

Patented Oct. 30. 1917.

MELViLLE E. yrn'rnnsenonen H. BATH, AND ALBERT r. MILLER, or DENVER,

COLORADO, essrenons TO THE rnrnns PATENT merrrs COMPANY, OF. DENVER,

COLORADO, A CORPORATION 0F. COLORADO. V r I PNEUMATIGALLY-CONTROLLEDBLANK-TBIPPiNG MECHANISM FDR BLANK-FEEEDIISTG MECHANISMS.

To all whom it mag concern I Beit known that we, MnLvILLnE. PETERS,GEORGE H. FATI-I and ALBERT F. MILLER, citizens of the United States ofAmerica, residing at the city and county. of Denver and State ofColorado, have invented a new and useful Pneumatically- ControlledBlankrl ripping Mechanism for Blank-Feeding Mechanisms, of which thefollowing is a specification. I

Our invention relates to a new pneumatically controlled blank trippingmechanism for blank feeding mechanisms, and the objects of our inventionare:

First, to provide, a mechanism that will stop and prevent a blank fromfeeding, to the gumming rolls should it enter the machine slightlytwisted out of straight alinement with the blank feeding and gummingmechanism, and that will automatically stop the blanks if perchance twoor more. should be fed at one time into the machine. And

Second, to provide 'atripping mechanism which will automatically trip ablank and prevent its being fed to the gumming rolls if by chance itenters the machine out of straight alinement with, and unless it entersthe machine from its feeding mechanism in perfectly straight alinementwith the gluing rolls, and that will apply a coat of adhesive gum ofpredetermined thickness to evenly fed blanks.

YVe attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which :1

Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of our pneumaticallycontrolled blank triipping machine, showing more particularly theconnection between the vacuum pump and the feed roller, together withthe operating mechanism, other parts being omitted.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the same side of themachine as shown in Fig. 1, and illustrating the combined blank trippingmechanism and feed roller operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Y Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 the parts shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view is a front View, partly insection, of

Specification of Letters Patent. Patient-ed Oct, 1917, Application filedFebruary s, 1916. Serial No. 76,996.

through a portion of the feed roller, illustrating the manner ofconnecting the suction box thereinwith the vacuum pump."

Fig." 6 is a side view of a portion of the opposite side of the framefrom that shown in Fig. 2, and'ill'ustrating the manner of supportingthe feed roller with respect to.

the gumming cylinder and the manner of defining the limit of the rockingmovement of said roller.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the dia-' phragm mEClIZIIHSIH' whichcontrols the ac-' actuating the We illustrate therein in Figs. 1, 2, 3,and

4, general views of our apparatus embodying our invention.

Our invention is intended to trip up blanks that feedinto any machine towhich our mechanism may be attached and especially blanks fed to blankor label gu'mming machines such as illustrated in our pendingapplication Serial No. 30,471 filed May 25, 1915, for a newpneumatically controlled and automatically operating blank gumming andtempering machine. And also in our pendingapplication, Serial No.68,270, now Patent No.1,223,516,) filed December 22, 1915, for acooperating blank feeding and gumming' mechanism for blank gum; mingmachines.

One of the essential elements of our blank tripping mechanism is a blankor label feed ing roller 1. roller is an intermittently rotating rollerandit comprises ahollow cylindrical roller which is mounted .on ashaft2.This shaft is supported in balanced tilting journal boxes 3, which areformed on one endof a balanced roc'karm frame 4, which normally holdsthe roller in an adjustedbalanced position just close enough to the'gumining cylinder to allow it to'press a blank against the surface of.the gumming cylinder with a slight but decided pressure. 1 Consequentlythese we onnron.

This blank or label feeding cylinders are positioned nearly but notquite the thickness of a blank apart, which would be the nearestadjusted and set position of the feed roller to the gumming cylinder.The fe'edroller has' however a slight balanced reciprocal movement awayfrom this adjusted and set position, by means of its balanced supportingframe, which is constructed as follows:

The two journal bearings 3 are formed at the end of arm'portions 4, thatproject-from a central. body portion froln which an arm 5 extends, onwhich a weight 6 is slidably and adjustably secured by a set screw 7;The body portion extends across the machine between the side frames Aand B of the'machine,,and a shaft 8 extends through the body portionandis secured to it and its ends-are journaled in bearingsformed in theside frames. One end of this shaft extends beyond the side frame B andon its end a block 9 is-secured. This block extends between two lugs 10and 11 and setscrews 1'2 and Bare threadedrfrom opposite verticaldirections through'the lugs 10 and 11, and are adjusted to clampthe-free end of the block 9 between them; This arrangement allows thefree end of this blank to'be adjusted and set in adjusted positions toallow the journalbearings, the shaft and feed roller a balancedreciprocal movement of such a predetermined amount of distance to itsnormal position and distance from the gumming cylinder, as desired. Thisreciprocal balanced movement of the feed roller, together with thebalance movement of its supporting. frame, will seldom exceed athirty-secondof an inch, and the feed roller is normallydield andoperatively rotates at the-thickness of or about the thickness of theblanks being fed through the machine to be gummed, it being understoodthat the feed roller must always force each blank with a slight pressureagainst the gumming cylinder, but atthe same time the feed roller mustnever touch the gummed surface of the gum mingtcylindeim Theshaft 2 uponwhich the feed: roller is mounted and secured, extends loosely throughapertures formed through the side frames A and B, without touching them,and its opposite ends are provided with apparatus that will be describedhere- The object of providing a reciprocating relief movement to theblank feeding roller 1 away from and back to its normally set positionis to enable it to be adjusted to feed blanksthat may vary in thicknessand also to yield away from its set position and from the gummingcylinder, :incase two or more blanks may perchance be accidentally fedto it an dbecarriedby it to the gumming cylinder, and-while wepreferably illustrate and use this balance weighted support for the feedroller and its shaft, we illustrate a simpler arrangement of supportingthe feed roller, which is automatically controlled to move away from andback to its set position enough less than the distance of the thick nessof theblanks being fed from the surface of the gumming cylindentopressthe blanks normally against the surface of the gumming cylinder. In thismodified arrangement, the shaft is rotatably journaled in boxes 1% thatare slidably mounted in guideways 15 that are formed in the side framesA and B of the machine, and which are provided with an expansive spring16 against which the boxes bear, andwith a stud screw that is threadedto the frame. This stud 17 is provided with adjustingnuts that permitthe sliding boxes and the feed roller to be placed under the desiredreciprocating resilient tension to-allow the feed roller to reboundinglyyield from its set positions relative to the gumming cylinder 20.

The hollow feed roller 1 is providedwith a narrow air suction blankgripping and conveying device 18 that is secured along the edge of agap, that is formed in said roller nearest to the automatic blankfeeding mechanism of the machine, and this airsuction deviceis providedwith a row or line of air suction apertures19 that extend along itslength, which are arranged and adapted to receive and grip by an airsuction force the advancing edge of each blank asit is fed to this feedroller. In order to conveniently receive the blanks from the blankfeeding mechanism, the feed roller is timed to stopor hesitate in itsintermittent rotative movement when its line of air suction aperturesregister inalinement with the vertical axis of the feed roller, and asit stands in its stopped position at the end of each revolution, theadvancing edge of each blank is fed directly onto this line of airsuction apertures that form a part of the automatic blank feedingmechanism, by a movable air suction device, which will be presentlydescribed This feed roller 1 is however the first member of our gummingmachine toreceive a blank, and while we have preferably illustrated andused our machine equipped with an automatic blank feeding device, whichwe have especially designed for it, our gum.- ming machine contemplatesbroadly any and every and all types of blank feeding machines anddevices that are suitable for feeding blanks to it.

This feed roller 1 is geared and timed to make a full revolution andthen to stop or hesitate in its turning movement long enough to allow ablank to be fed to its line of suction apertures, and it is timed toalways make the full revolution including the stop in the same time thegumming cylinder makes one of its full continuous revolutions, and thefeed roller'is also so relatively timed to each revolutioirofthegumining cylinder, that itsline' of blank gripping suction apertureswill gripp feed and deliver the advancingedge of each blank against andalong the advancing edge portion of the reciprocating segment of thegumming cylinder, and as this segment together with the entire surfaceof the cylinder is covered with a thin coat of gum the blank whenpressed against the segment of the cylinder receives an even coat of gumalong its adi a-ncing edge that "is on the segment, as =wcll asthroughout its entire surface of its side that is pressed against thesurface ofthe'guinming cylinder by the rotating feed'roller as thesurface of the gumming cylinder including the entire surface of its gapfilling segment is completely covered at all times with a thin even coatof adhesiveliquid gum, which it received fromthc gum distributing roller21, which supplies the guinming' cylinder with gum. Consequently whenthe feed roller feeds and presses a blank against the surface of thesegment of the gumming cylinder, its advancing edge instantly stickstothc gumined surface thereof, and as the rotating feed roller rolls theblanlrofl and againstthesurface of the gumming cylinder, the blank iswrapped and stuck'to the. gummed surface of a portion ofits surface; asthe cylinder rotates,

audit is thusatthe same ti'me'tha't an even coatiof gum is being pressedon: one side of ittbeing carried and fed forward by the gumming cylindertothe point where its segment flies back" into the cylinder and opensthe gap, which exposes the advancing edge of the :blank to the:actionyof the pickers which instantly grab it and peel it off in thedirection it would naturally-curl up in, and conveys it instantly to thetempering mechanism, which moistens its opposite side from its gumcoated' side .Jand then dis charges it r'ina position while it is in alimpid tempered condition 'to a'point where it can be instantly fedtoany operative box covering machine. "Consequently each blank as itisfed-forwardand discharged from the gumming cylinder is coated andcovered on one'of its sides with axcoat of gum, which coat of gum may byproper manipulation of the. gum distributingroller 2 1 beof anypredetermined and desired degree of thickness.

The intermittent blank gripping, holding, feeding and releasingairsuction device of the feed roller may' beof any desired'constructionand'arrangement, as our invention inthis respect contemplates broadlyanyair.

actuated deviceor mechanism that will grip, bold move and release latai'prcdetermine'd point fin the rotative. movement of a blank feedingroller axboir.covering blankw ygWVe employ? inconnectionxw'th thewfeedroller 1 ':anair Jsuctioir holdingnand releasing device forfeedingtheblanks to the gumming cylinder. This air suction; device comprises athin hollow square shaped strip of metal 18, that is detachably securedto the edge of the gap by screws 22, and. through the top of thisbox arow of small air suction inlet apertures 19 is formed; in a straightline parallel; with the longitudinal axis of the feed'cylinder. Theseair suction apertures '19 may be positioned at any desired distanceapart'throughout its length, it only being necessary to use enough ofthem positioned close enough together and at equal distances apart tofirmly grip and hold to the blanks by the air suction force of an airpump.

' This 'air, boX is provided with a longitudinal chamber into which eachof the air suction apertures extend, and centrally of its length it isprovided with an inlet nipple aperture 2%, to which one end ofa tube 25is secured. The opposite ,end of this tube extends to a nipple 2(3 thatis threaded into an aperture formed in the shaft within the feed roller1 near its left flange 27, where it intersects an axial aperture 28formed in the left hand end of the shaft. A hollow cap-29 is secured tothe end of this shaft from which a nipple portion 30 depends thatterminates in a? fitting 31, from which a nipple member, 32 extendshorizontally and is connected to one end of a short piece of rubbertubing 33, the opposite end of which is connected by a pipe 34, to anair pump cylinder 35. This air pump is provided with a piston that isreciprocated by a cam 36 and lever mechanism 37. The cam is mounted on ashaft 38, which is'driven by a clutch controlled driving worm shaft 39and pulley 10 and worm driven wheel 41 by and from which the -entiremachine is operated. A nipple 42 is connected to the opposite end of theT 31' and terminates in an elbow fromywhich a pipe i3 extends acrossboth of the side frames Aand B of the machine, and is connected by atube 44 to the inletnipple 4450f an air suction diaphragm fi which formsa part of the blank tripping mechanism, which will be presently'described. a r

This blank gripping, feeding andrelease ing suction boX is made, longenough toreceive and feed the longest blanksthe machine will gum, and"the machine will gum all sizes of blanks used for covering boxes fromabout inches long by varying widths, up. to between nineteen and twentyinches long and of varying; widths, and when-gumming blanks that are notwide enough to cover all oftheair suction apertures the suctionboz'qfthose at the ends of the suction boX not covered by the blank mustbe fclosed, and we have made-provie the suction box that are outside ofand are uncovered when using the smallest sizes of blanks that themachine will coat with gum. lVhile various means could be employed forclosing these air suction apertures, we preferably carry out thisfeature of our invention in the following manner:

This blankgrip'ping suction box is provided along its accessible side inthe gap of and within the feed roller commencing beyond those centrallylocated air suction apertures which wouldreceive the narrowest blanksthat would be run and gummed by the machine, with apertures 4L7 thatextend transversely through the air suction boX, and each of which ispositioned to intersect one of the air suction apertures and in eachtransverse aperture a finger operating plug valveKtS is secured, whichis arranged to open or close these air suction apertures. Consequentlyall air suction apertures that are outside of the size of blanks beingrun through and gummed by the machine are closed, and it is necessarythat they should be closed because if one air suction aperture beyond ablank is left open, the suction is broken and the suction grip and holdare broken and rendered inoperative, and even when blanks that are wideenough to cover all of the air'suction holes are fed into the machine insuch an uneven andtwisted condition as to' expose one of the air suctionapertures on either end of the suction box, the suction grip does nottake place, as the vacuum is broken and the feed roller will not moveand will miss its revolution, and will stand still until a. blank is fedto 'it in a straight position. Then the advancing edge of the blank isplaced over all of the air suction apertures and they instantly grip andhold it firmly down againstth'e air suction box.

The automatic blank tripping device is adapted to trip up or break theair suction force of the feed rollerby rendering it instantlyinoperative, and it also operates-to lock the feed roller againstrotation when a blank feeds to the suction box in such a crooked,uneven, or partially folded or in any other way out of proper order andposition to fully cover all of the air suction apertures of the suctionbox, or in other words, whena blank feeds so out of straight alinementor wrinkled to the longitudinal plane of the line of air suctionapertures and to the longitudinal axis of the feed roller, that one ormore air suction a' per tures 19 are left uncovered at either one orboth ends of the air suction box, and inasmuch as the blanks feed intoand through our machine at the rate of about fifty per minute, thetripping mechanism employed must act quickly and be controlledautomatically by the continuousrotating movements of thegumming-cylinder. This 'is essential, as the principal object of thistrip is to arrest and stop the out of order blanks before they reach thegumming cylinder and clog it and the entire machine, which wouldnecessitate stopping the machine and removing the clogging blank andcleaning the gumming cylinder. 7

Consequently our invention contemplates a pneumatically operatingapparatus 00- operating with means connected to and controlled by thegumming cylinder and the feed roller, that will trip up and stop blanksthat are in any way out of order when they first reach the feed roller,which is the threshold of the machine, as the surest way ofpreventingtheir reaching the gumming cylinder.

Our invention in this respect contemplates any and all pneumaticallyoperated apparatus cooperatively,united with the machinery connectedwith the blank feeding and gumming mechanism of blank gumming niachines."We preferably however carry out this feature of our i vcntion in thefollowing manner:

The air suction diaphragm 46 to which the air tube which leads from theT fitting 31 and the air pump 35, is connected, com prises asaucer-shaped disk 47- over which a diaphragm of flexible material,preferably leather, is is secured, which is clamped to the disk by aring-like member 49, that is secured to the disk by screws 50: Thediaphragm disk has a hub portion 51 which is provided with a chamber 52,in the inner end of which asleeve 53 is slidably mounted. The bottom ofthis sleeve is provided with apertures that admit air from the r of arock arm 56. The opposite end of this 1 rock arm 56 is adapted tooperate a hub 57, which is slidably mounted on and is feather keyed tothe shaft 2, that the feed roller is mounted on. This hub is providedwith an annular groove 58, in which a segment of a collar 59 fitsloosely, and that is secured to the upper end of the rock arm 56, by acap screw 60. This hub 57 forms the supporting part of a locking bolt61, and the rock arm is arranged and, adapted to move the locking boltthrough the medium of this collar segment bearing in the annular grooveof the hub of the locking bolt out oflocking engagement with a key-wayrecess 62, that is formed in the adjacent face of an adjacent spur gear63, as will be presently described, and this locking bolt is heldnormally against the face of the gear as the gear rotates when thelocking bolt is not adjacent, side frame of the machine. I smooth curvedperipheral surface 67 on the locked to it, by a an expansive spring 64,which ismounted on the end of the shaft 2, and is confined there by acollar 65, that is seoured to the end of the shaft by a set screw.Consequently this expansive spring holds the locking bolt in operativelocking position to the locking recess of the gear, in which the lockingbolt is adapted to lit loosely, while the upper end of the rockarm whenmoved by mechanism to be presently described that cooperates with thediaphragm and its reciprocating stem 54, moves the locking bolts hub tounlock the locking bolt from the recess-in the spur gear. The spur gear63 is an intermittently rotating gear, it being made so byleavingseveral of its teeth off and forming in their place a smooth curvedportion, 67 that registers with a similar smooth portion on its drivinggear. This intermittently rotating gear is loosely mounted one. hub 68,that surrounds the feed rollers shaft 2, loosely enough to allow thisshaft to move or float on its swinging bearings on it, as the feedroller has an adjustable reciprocal balanced or floating movement towardand away from the surface of the guinming cylinder, as above described,and this shaft 2 also has a free balanced or floating movement in theapertures of the frame, and in this hub ,68, which i is secured to theside frame A by cap screws shaft has a floating movement in this hubentirely independent of the rotative bearing of the intermittentlyrotating spur gear 63, that drives them through the medium of thelocking bolt that is feather-keyed to the shaft 2 of the feed roller. 7

The rock arm 56 ispivotally supported intermediate of its endsby a bolt70, to a yoke-shaped bracket 71, that is bolted to ltge periphery ofthis intermittently rotating gear 63, is made of such a predeterminedpart of its circumference as will cause the gear tostop dead or hesitateduring each of its revolutions, and as this gear drives the blankfeeding roller it controls and determines the length of time thefeed"roller or more strictly speakingjthe air suction box shall stop at itsblank receiving station to receive each blank from its automatic blanksupplying and feeding mechanism relative to the time in which the feedroller makes its full revolution.

until it has been put into orderly alinement with the line of blankgripping air suction apertures of the air suction box of thefeed roller.i i i The length of time that the air suction .box does stop at its'blank receiving station is justsuflicient to allow the blanks to be fedto and its advancing edge to' be placed over the air suction apertureswhich are under suction draft ready to receive it, and ifit covers allof the air suction apertures, to grip it, then start forward with it andfeed it to the gumming cylinder. If, however, the advance edge of theblank does not cover all of the air suction apertures of the air suctionbox and even only one or a part of one is exposed to the atmosphere, thesuction will be brokenin the air suction box of this feed roller, andwill fail to act in the air suction diaphragm, and the blank will stopat this air suction box until this particular blank is either rightedinto alinement so as to fully cover all of the suction aperturesunder itand within the scope of the area of its advancing edge portion, or elseto remove it entirely from the machine, and this may be accomplished byan automatically operating mechanism which forms no part of our presentinvention, and which is therefore not illustrated. i

The diaphragm disk 47 itself is secured to the rock arm 56 by three studscrews, one of which secures it to the adjacent side of the rock arm 56,andthe other two, which extend from opposite sides of the diaphragm, aresecured to the ends of two arms 79-, that are projected from oppositesides of the rock arm to receive them. Consequently this diaphragm rockswith the rock arm. The stem 5% of the diaphragm is provided with acollar portion that bears against the adjacent side of the rock arm 56,while the stem extends loosely through the rock arm and terminates in apin portion 7 3 that-projects beyond it into engaging and disengagingrelation to a swinging lever, as will be presently described. v

The air chamber in the hub of the diaphragm disk is provided with anexpansion spring 74 which bears against a cup portion of the air inletnipple 45 at one end, and against the bottom of the sleeve 53'at itsopposite end. This spring holds the diaphragm stem and thefiexiblediaphragm extended out to the limit of its outward movement,whilethe air suction of the air pump 35 draws the diaphragm in againstthetension of the spring, and when the suction force is cut off, thespring moves the sleeve, its stem, and the diaphragm out again totheirnormal positions, in front of the bearing side 75 of a swinginglever 76, which would then engage it if it remained there.

W hen,however, the suction impulse does act on the diaphragm, the pin isdrawn back for out of the swinging path of thelever 76 which then swingspast the pin 73. These relative positions of the bearing end of thislever 76 will be more fully explained hereinafter.

The swinging lever 76 is mounted on and secured to one end of a rockshaft '77, which is jouriialed in the lower ends of the bracket 71; thelower end of this lever is provided with a flat bearing surface that isslightly inclined upwardly and forwardly toward the machine, in orderthat it may have a squarer contact against the pin during its pushingstroke against it. 7

A lever 78 is connected to the opposite end of this rock shaft, which isconnected by a link 79 to one end or a rock arm 80, the opposite end orwhich is provided with a roller 8-1, that engages a cam 82, that isformed on the outside surface of a spur gear 83, that is bolted to theface o'fa gear 84, which is secured tothe shaitSS of the blank guinniingcylinder, which rotates continuously. Consequently the shaft gear drivesthe spur gear 83 continuously.

The rock arm 80 is pivotally secured by a pivotal bolt 86 to a lugportion 8? on the upper adjacent end of the bracket '71. The cam'82 is araised ring member that is formed on the side of the spur gear 83, andat one point it is provided with a recess 88, into which the roller 8iof the rock arm 80 moves, being forced therein by a coiled spring '89,with which the rock shaft 77 is provided. One end of this spring issecured to the bracketTl and the opposite end is secured to a collar 90,that is mounted on and secured to the rock shaft by a screw. This spring89 is arranged and adapted to hold the roller end of the rock arm incontinuously bearing contact with the surface of the cam 82-, and toforce it into its recess 88, so that this rock arm may have a positivereciprocal and continuous oscillating movement which isimparted to therock shaft through the lever 78, and through the rock shaft 77 to tlieswiiiging oscillating lever 7 6, and these rock arms 76 and TS swing andoscillate regardless of the reciprocal movement of the pin end 73 of thestem 5%, due tothe air suction impulses of'the diaphragm in drawing thepin out of the path of the swinging lever or of its fOlWiilLl movementinto the swinging path of the lever, due to the action of the spring 74within the diaphragm. V

The pin normally stands in the path of the swinging levers 'slopiiigend75, but the diaphragm will always withdraw the pin out of-the path ofthe end of the swing ing lever as long as blanks are fed to the suctionbox of the feed roller in straightiproper order of alineiiient relativeto the line of air suction apertures in the suction box of the 'feedroller, but the instant a blank feeds to the line of air suctionapertures in the suction box and does not cover all of its air suctionapertures, the suction is broken both in the air suction box and in thediaphragm, and then the spring H of the diaphragm throws or pushes thepin across the path of the swinging lever, which engages .it and swingsit along with its stroke toward the adjacent side frame A of themachine, which tilts the diaphragm and'its rock arm, as'will bepresently described. 7

The above described movements are the regular natural actions of thediaphragm and the rock lever 56, the rock arm and the cam, on thecontinuously rotating spur gear 83, and it aiiects the intermittentlyrotating gear'GS, which is mounted loosely on the hub 68, but whichrotates the shaft 2, of the and they always receive such an impulse withevery blank that is fed straight to the suction box ofthe feed roller,and covers all of its air suction apertures 19, and when the diaphragmreceives this suction impulseits pin is withdrawn out of the path of theswinging lever 76, and as a consequence its own lever 56 is not moved todraw the looking bolt out of its recess in the intermittently rotatingidler gear 63 and conse quently the locking bolt rotates with this spurgear 63, which on account of its being an idler that is loosely mounted011a hub 6S, that loosely surrounds'the shaft 2 of the feed roller, doesnot rotate the feed roller because the-hub 68 is secured to the sidedrains A. Consequently the intermittently rotating gear 63 does'iiotdirectly drive the tteed roller 1, but it drives the locking bolt 61around with it, which is featlier-l-zeyed to the shaft 2 of the feedroller and consequently the feed roller is rotated by the lock 'ing boltthrough the mediumjof this interiiiittently rotating idler spur gear 63,and the feedroller is in this mannerrotated with every blank that is fedto 'it in such order as to completely coverall of the air apertures ofits suction box that are under the size of blanks being "run through themachine, andalliofthose aperturesthat are not under the size ofblankbeingrun are tightly closed by the finger valves 48.

When however a disorderly blank is fed to the air suction apertures 0fthe air suction box, as occasionally happens, consider ing the largenumber of blanks our machine will gum in a day, which is'about fifty aminute, and the disorderly blank is out of alinement with the row orairsuction apera part of one air suction aperture at either end of ituncovered, the suction vacuum in the suction box and also simultaneouslyin the air suction diaphragm of the trip mechanism, is broken, as theyare both operated in unison by the one air pump 35. Then the instant theair. suction is broken, the diaphragm will not move and lJS pin is notwithdrawn from the oscillating path of the swii'iging lever 76,. andconsequently the swinging lever engages it and swings it along with it,which movement causes the lower end of the rock arm 56 and also thediaphragm to move with the pin and it causes the upper end of the rockarm to move laterallyaway from the mutilated gear 63, and in doing so todraw the lockin bolt out of the key-way or recess (32 in the side of thegear, and the hub of the locking bolt slides back on its feather-keyunder the pressure of the segment collar of the, rock arm in its annulargroove. The locking bolt 61 is now withdrawn from and free of themutilated idler gear 63. Consequently while this gear continues torotate, being driven by the gear 83v on the shaft of the gummingcylinder, which is rotating continuously, the feed rollers shaft 2 whichis under the control of the locking bolt is stopped and consequently thefeed roller is stopped, and as it will not move and feed the crookedblank, this blank is tripped up or stopped and before it has entered themachine far enough to do any damage or cause any unusual delay, but itmust be immediately either removed or squared around to cover the one ormore air suction apertures it failed to cover when it'was fed in acrooked condition to the suction box of the feed roller. It requires buta few seconds of time to remove crooked blanks, which will immediatelystart the suc tion box and diaphragm suction impulse in their regularoperative order, the suction box gripping the blanks and the diaphragmsimultaneously withdrawing its pin out of the path of the swinging leverand allowing the gear to drive the locking bolt and feed roller to makeits revolution.

Our invention provides a reliable trip mechanism that operates ,to, tripup and stop blanks that feed to, the. feed roller in an irregularlyalined condition, and while we have illustrated and described the DI'G-Vfer-red construction and arrangement of our blank tripping mechanism, wedonot wish to be limited to itas many, changes might be made in itwithout departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1., In a blank tripping mechanism for paper blanks for blank gummingmachines,

a blank feeding rollerhaving a blankgripping suctionmechanism, means forintermittently rotatingsaiclfeed roller when a and hold a blank bysuction, said suction o erating means being arranged to hold said feedroller in alocked position when its suction fails to grip a blank.

3. In a blank tripping mechanism, the feed roller provided with atransversely alined row ofair suction inlet apertures adapted to graspand hold a blank, the

'blank gumming cylinder and the cam actuated means operated by saidcylinder and including the combined suction and mechanical operatingmechanism for locking said feed roller intermittently.

4. In a blank trippin mechanism, the combination of the blank feedingroller, the gumming cylinder, the cam controlled air suctiondiaphragmmechanism for the feed roller actuated and timed by saidgumming cylinders rotating movement.

5. In a blank tripping mechanism, the combination of the blank feedingroller and its supporting shaft, the gumming roller and its supportingshaft, the mutilated gears on said shafts, and means including cam andlei-'eractuated mechanism and an air suction diaphragm spring controlledin one direction of its movement for intermittently stopping said feedroller at a predetermined blank receiving part in its rotative movement.1 6. l combined pneumatically and mechanically operating blank trippingmechanism for blank gumming machines, comprising a blank gummingcylinder, a feed roller provided with a blank gripping air suctionmechan sm, and means including adjustable bearings for setting said feedroller in blank feeding relation to said-gumming cylinder, and meansincluding an air suction mechanism. for operatively feeding properlyalined blanks by said roller to said gumming cylinder and for stop ingdisorderly alined blanks at said feed rollers air suction blank grippingmechanism.

' 7. A combined pneumaticallv and mechanically operating blank trippingmechanism for blank gumming machines, comprising a blank gummingcylinder, a feed roller provided with a blank gripping air suctionmechanism, means including adjustable bearings for setting said feedroller in blank feeding relation to said gumming cylinder, meansincluding an air suction mechanism for-operatively feeding properlyalined blanks by said roller to said gumming cylinder and for stoppingdisorderly alined blanks at said feed rollers air suction blank grippingmechanism, said means including cam actuated lever mechanismcontrollable by said feed rollers and said gumming cylinders rotarymovement.

8. In a blank tripping mechanism for gumming machines, adjustable meansfor gumming and regulating the coat of gum on the blank, means forfeeding the blank to the gumming means, suction producing means operatedjointly by the guininingand feeding means for controlling the blankfeeding action, means for operating the feeding means, means forinterrupting the suction means, and an operative connection between thesuction producing means and the interrupting means to render the latterinactive as long as the suction acts effectually on the blank.

9. In a blank tripping mechanism for blank feeding machines, thecombination with a blank feeding cylinder, of means including a blankfeeding roller having perforations extending through its face andadapted to be covered by the blank, suction producing means connectedwith the feed roller and acting on the blank through the perforations ofthe roll for blank retaining purposes, means for operating the feedroller, means for automatically interrupting the connection function ofthe feed roller immediately prior to the beginning of the blank feedingact of the roller when 'a blank is not in orderly alinement with saidperforations, and an operative connection between said suction producingmeans and the interrupting means to render the latter inoperativeas longas the suction acts on the blank through the perforations of the rollerto properly grip and feed the blank.

10. In a blank tripping mechanism for blank gumming machines, thecombination with a blank gumming cylinder, of a blank feeding rollerwhose face is provided with a perforated segment, air suction producingand blank gripping means acting through said perforations to retain theblank in place during the feeding act, means for rotating the blankfeeding roller, means connected with said gumming cylinder forautomatically interrupting the connection between the blank feedingroller and its operating blank suction gripping means at the beginningof the blank feeding act of the feed roller, and an operative connectionbetween the blank gripping suction producing means and said interruptingmeans of the gumniing cylinder whereby the feed roller remains-inactivewhen the suction is in force.

'11. In a blank tripping mechanism for blank gumn'iing machines, a blankfeeding roller, suction producing means connected to said roller forretaining the blanks in their operative feedin position during thefeeding act, said roller being perforated to allow the suctionto act onthe blank through said perforations, means for operating the roller,means for interrupting the connection between the roller and itsoperating means immediately before the commencement of the blank feedingact of the roller when a blank is not in operative alinement therewith,and an operative connection between the suction producing means and saidinterrupting means, whereby the latter re mains inactive when thesuction is in force.

12. In a blank tripping mechanism for blank feeding or gumming machines,the combination with a supporting frame, of a shaft supported blankfeeding or gunnning cylinder, said cylinder being provided with anopenable and closable peripheral gapped surface portion adapted toreceive and expose the advancing edges of blanks either without gum orcoated with gum, ablank feeding shaft supported roller having a blankreceiving station, and an air suction producing mechanism for gripping ablank at said station, a mutilated gear on said cylinders shaft, amutilated gear on said feed rollers shaft registering with the mutilatedgear of said feed cylinders shaft, means including a cam controlled rockarm mechanism operated by said cylinders shaft and cylinder andcooperating with an air suction operating diaphragm controlled mechanismcooperatingly controlled by said'feed roller and its muti lated gear andshaft and operatively con nected to said air suction producing blank 1gripping and releasing mechanism for gripping, holding, releasing, andfeeding to said gumming cylinder all blanks that are in proper order ofalinement when fed to said feed rollers blank receiving station, and fortripping up and stopping at said blank re ceiving station allbla'nks notin proper order of alinement.

13. In a blank tripping mechanism for gumming machines, gum supplyingand distributing rolls and a blank gumming cylinder for gumming'theblanks, a blank feeding roller for feeding the blanks to the gummingcylinder, suction-producing means acting' through the feed roller whichis perfo- 1 rated for the purpose of retaining the blanks in placeduring the feeding act, the arrangement being such that when the blankis properly positioned all the perforations are covered, and the suctionis effective, means for operating'the feed roller to feed blanks to thegumming cylinder, means for interrupting the connection between the feedroller and its operating means immediately prior to the beginning of thenormal blank feeding act of the feed roller, and an operative connectionbetween said suction-producing means to prevent the interrupting meansfrom acting when the suction is intact.

14. In a blank tripping mechanism for gumming machines, the combinationwith gum supplying and gum distributing mechanism, means for feedingblanks, and a hollow gum distributing cylinder, having an opening andclosing segment portion, a main feed roller operating gear, a secondgear meshing with the main gear mounted coaXially with the roll andnormally loose, means including a crank arm feather-keyed on the shaftof the feed roller and normally spring-held in key locked relation withthe loose gear to cause the rotation of the latter to operate the feedroller means for interrupting the connection between the feed rollerandits blank gripping suction mechanism at the beginning of the blankfeeding act of the feed roller, a rock arm for shifting the crank arm, aflexible diaphragm connected to said rock arm, a pin arranged to bemoved by said diaphragm as said diaphragm vibrates by air suctionimpulse action, a cam carried by the main gear, a crank arm actuated toswing reciprocally by said cam and into the operating path of said pin,and a spring for normally holding said pin normally in the path of saidcam operated swinging crank arm.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

MELVILLE E. PETERS. GEORGE H. FATH. ALBERT F. lWILLER.

Witnesses:

Gr. SARGENT ELLIOTT, ELIZABETH SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

